Polish aviation agency develops system coordinating drone flights

The Polish Air Navigation Services Agency (PANSA) has implemented the first system in Europe to support the digital coordination of flights by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), and electronic communication between PANSA services and UAV operators.

According to PANSA, the system called PansaUTM will be used by, among others, air traffic controllers and will improve safety around airports.

PANSA added that the system successfully passed the accreditation process conducted by the agency and supervised by the Civil Aviation Office and was launched in the controlled zones of airports in Poznań, western Poland, Bydgoszcz, northern Poland and Modlin, central Poland.

The implementation process of the system will be completed in the second quarter of 2020, the agency said.

Deputy Infrastructure Minister Marcin Horała noted that the increasing number of operations made by UAV vehicles means that drones have to be treated as equal users of the airspace.

PANSA is the only institution in Poland that trains and employs civil air traffic controllers. Currently, it employs over 570 air traffic controllers.